The morning regulars gather at the Beasley Dog Park around 9 a.m. or so.

Phoebe and Buckley and two dogs straight out of Oz chase each other. A tuckered out husky puppy lies in the shade. Other canines sniff each other in awkward places or show their friendliness toward man, rubbing against outstretched hands and nuzzling heads against knees and laps.

The half-dozen or so people sitting under the small shelter bring their dogs to this downtown park from all over Chatham County. One drives in from her apartment near Henderson golf course; another from his home on the Southside. Others walk from nearby carriage houses and condos.

They come to Beasley several times a week largely because there is no other place for their charges to exercise and socialize. Beasley is home to Savannah’s only public dog park.

Beasley will retain that status for the time-being. Because even as city officials seem open to throwing dog lovers a bone by designating new canine-friendly spots, they must heed the barks of those who don’t want man’s best friend and his friends barking up the wrong tree — the one within earshot of their properties.

Such is the case at Nathaniel Greene Park, the city-owned green space on Bull Street not far from Habersham Village. The park backs up to a residential neighborhood, and the homeowners beyond the Greene’s fence line would certainly be subjected to canine conversations should dogs be unleashed there.

So the city will look elsewhere. And the search, says the Beasley crowd, shouldn’t require the nose of a bloodhound.

‘Tons of space’

Chatham County was wise to let part of Beasley go to the dogs back in 2008.

Beasley is downtown yet isolated from nearby residences. The dog park area is nestled in Beasley’s northeast corner, where only the children playing in the East Broad Elementary School’s yard would be distracted by the canine presence.

“This is a perfect spot,” said Danny Hulse as his mixed-breed pointer sniffed the ground nearby. “There’s tons of space. You’re not bothering anybody. And there are plenty of other places like this around town.”

Basically, any Daffin-like mega-park or isolated — yet accessible — green space would work. Run a water line. Throw up a fence. Install a few benches and/or a picnic shelter. Hang a box of plastic bags on the front gate. Done.

Too few dog park proponents bring this argument to the debate. Valid objections by the Greene Park neighbors were met with outrage, not understanding.

Many dog owners are like soccer fans and political extremists in that they are unable to discuss what they are passionate about in a rational manner.

Dare question why a dog park should be built a stick’s throw from someone’s home? You must hate dogs. Or voice concerns about animals that often act threateningly around strangers being allowed to run free at the beach? You’re sub-human.

The only thing missing is a sign hanging around someone’s neck that reads “Beware of dog … owner.”

“Like anybody who is basically fanatical about something, dog lovers can jump to conclusions when somebody objects to the way they feel about something,” said Tara Loughlin, who brings her cairn terriers — think Toto — Sophie and Hazel to Beasley every day. “We need to be sensitive to concerns like we’ve heard about Greene. We’re asking for sensitivity from others; we need to do likewise.”

In the spotlight

The doggie debate has brought an overdue awareness to the public neglect shown toward canines and their owners in Savannah.

A city that prides itself on hospitality, active lifestyles and a cosmopolitan feel should have more than one public dog park. Hulse used to live in Athens, “a city with half the population and more than twice the number of dog parks.”

Adding insult to apathy are the so-called dog-friendly areas at parks around town. Most feature signs that read some variation of the following conflicting message: “Dog Exercise Area. Dogs Must Be Kept On Leash.”

Talk about dogging it.

“One thing I heard about Savannah before I moved here was that Savannah is dog-friendly,” said Loughlin, who moved to town five years ago. “Then I got here and realized Savannah isn’t dog-friendly, it’s just got a lot of dogs.”

Recent improvements to the Beasley dog park demonstrate how much users value such facilities. The Beasley regulars pooled their resources to design and build a wooden shelter and bulletin board and worked like dogs to refurbish the grounds.

The county’s contributions were limited to waiving the permit fees for the new structures and providing dirt, mulch and gravel to the site, which the regulars then distributed.

“The county takes an interest in this park because it is very utilized,” Loughlin said. “They installed some shade umbrellas, they give us bags and they clean up around the park. We appreciate it, but we had to ask first. Maybe we need to ask more.”

Better communication could make the difference. After all, this is dog-meet-dog — not dog-eat-dog — issue.

Adam Van Brimmer’s column runs each Monday and his Daddy Warbucks blog appears on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at savannahnow.com. Reach him at 912-652-0362 or adam.vanbrimmer@savannahnow.com and follow him on Twitter and Facebook at smndaddywarbuck.

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Savannah is no where near dog friendly. We have all of these beautiful underutilized spaces around the city, but when it comes to actually proposing a space for use, the idea gets shot down immediately because someone feels a sense of entitlement even though it will have next to zero impact on their life. To those living near Nathaniel Greene Park: how can you object to doing something positive that this city needs, when you don't use the space yourself? This sounds selfish to me, but what else is new. I hope someday we can have a dog friendly city and perhaps a dog friendly beach for people with active lifestyles like myself. Limiting the areas that man and dog can freely run about and exercise inhibits their socialization. When dogs have pent up energy, whether from lack of exercise or otherwise the dog will in essence go nuts and someone will get hurt like we have unfortunately seen recently. More places for owner to take their dogs and exercise them will help alleviate this issue. Leashes are fine for exercising small dogs that can tire out quickly, but when people have larger dogs, owners sometimes need to let them off to tire themselves out. This is not hard to understand. Savannah, I have hope, but with the recent attack and objections to the dog park at Nathaniel Greene, I see Savannah becoming more anti-dog-friendly than dog friendly.

As co-admin. of the Beasley Dog Park FB page (yes, there is one), lets set the record straight. The recent improvements to the dog park were not funded by user contributions. Greenline Architecture took on this project as part of their annual "gift" to the citizens of Savannah. They did the design,got the permits, and rounded up their clients to donate the materials and the construction. The County provided sand, gravel, and mulch, as they always do when asked. The "users" of the park provided labor to spread the media.

The part on the improvements to the park. I would like to point out I used the term "pooled their resources" and didn't mention funds. From what I understand, Keith Howington of Greenline is a dog park regular and did the design work and then reached out to other in the community to donate materials and supplied and have the structures built. No fund raising was done that I know of. Just a collaborative effort led by Keith and Greenline to get the job done.

I dont live in Savannah, but a suburb about 30 mins outside it. I've yet to find a dog friendly area where I live, and the drive is a bit much for my dog who is nervous in the car. I'm moving to Rincon in August, and I'm hoping to find an area close by where I can let my dog run. She's a large dog, and friendly as a poodle, yet everywhere I try to take her, even fenced parks in my town, are off limits to dogs. They need a large area to run free and let their energy out. Most large areas, with enough trees and shelters would absorb most of the barking, and as long as everyone picks up after their dog, there would be no impact to nearby neighbors. Hopefully, everyone can agree on an area where we can take our dogs and live in peace together.